Saint Helena (2001) | Yemen (2001) | |
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Administrative divisions | 1 administrative area and 2 dependencies*; Ascension*, Saint Helena, Tristan da Cunha* | 17 governorates (muhafazat, singular - muhafazah); Abyan, 'Adan, Al Bayda', Al Hudaydah, Al Jawf, Al Mahrah, Al Mahwit, 'Ataq, Dhamar, Hadhramawt, Hajjah, Ibb, Lahij, Ma'rib, Sa'dah, San'a', Ta'izz
note: there may be three more governorates: Al Daleh, Shabwah, and the capital city of Sana'a |
Age structure | 0-14 years:
19.08% (male 699; female 687) 15-64 years: 71.72% (male 2,711; female 2,500) 65 years and over: 9.2% (male 286; female 383) (2001 est.) |
0-14 years:
47.21% (male 4,340,436; female 4,195,076) 15-64 years: 49.79% (male 4,598,301; female 4,402,402) 65 years and over: 3% (male 274,202; female 267,618) (2001 est.) |
Agriculture - products | corn, potatoes, vegetables; timber; fish, crawfish (on Tristan da Cunha) | grain, fruits, vegetables, pulses, qat (mildly narcotic shrub), coffee, cotton; dairy products, livestock (sheep, goats, cattle, camels), poultry; fish |
Airports | 1 (2000 est.) | 50 (2000 est.) |
Airports - with paved runways | total:
1 over 3,047 m: 1 (2000 est.) |
total:
13 over 3,047 m: 2 2,438 to 3,047 m: 8 1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 914 to 1,523 m: 1 under 914 m: 1 (2000 est.) |
Airports - with unpaved runways | - | total:
37 over 3,047 m: 2 2,438 to 3,047 m: 9 1,524 to 2,437 m: 8 914 to 1,523 m: 13 under 914 m: 5 (2000 est.) |
Area | total:
410 sq km land: 410 sq km water: 0 sq km note: includes St. Helena Island, Ascension, and the island group of Tristan da Cunha, which consists of Tristan da Cunha Island, Gough Island, Inaccessible Island, and the three Nightingale Islands |
total:
527,970 sq km land: 527,970 sq km water: 0 sq km note: includes Perim, Socotra, the former Yemen Arab Republic (YAR or North Yemen), and the former People's Democratic Republic of Yemen (PDRY or South Yemen) |
Area - comparative | slightly more than two times the size of Washington, DC | slightly larger than twice the size of Wyoming |
Background | Uninhabited when first discovered by the Portuguese in 1502, St. Helena was garrisoned by the British during the 17th century. It acquired fame as the place of Napoleon BONAPARTE's exile, from 1815 until his death in 1821, but its importance as a port of call declined after the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869. Ascension Island is the site of a US Air Force auxiliary airfield; Gough Island has a meteorological station. | North Yemen became independent of the Ottoman Empire in 1918. The British, who had set up a protectorate area around the southern port of Aden in the 19th century, withdrew in 1967 from what became South Yemen. Three years later, the southern government adopted a Marxist orientation. The massive exodus of hundreds of thousands of Yemenis from the south to the north contributed to two decades of hostility between the states. The two countries were formally unified as the Republic of Yemen in 1990. A southern secessionist movement in 1994 was quickly subdued. In 2000, Saudi Arabia and Yemen agreed to a delimitation of their border. |
Birth rate | 13.49 births/1,000 population (2001 est.) | 43.36 births/1,000 population (2001 est.) |
Budget | revenues:
$11.2 million expenditures: $11 million, including capital expenditures of $NA (FY92) |
revenues:
$3 billion expenditures: $3.1 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (2001 est.) |
Capital | Jamestown | Sanaa |
Climate | Saint Helena - tropical; marine; mild, tempered by trade winds; Tristan da Cunha - temperate; marine, mild, tempered by trade winds (tends to be cooler than Saint Helena) | mostly desert; hot and humid along west coast; temperate in western mountains affected by seasonal monsoon; extraordinarily hot, dry, harsh desert in east |
Coastline | 60 km | 1,906 km |
Constitution | 1 January 1989 | 16 May 1991; amended 29 September 1994 and February 2001 |
Country name | conventional long form:
none conventional short form: Saint Helena |
conventional long form:
Republic of Yemen conventional short form: Yemen local long form: Al Jumhuriyah al Yamaniyah local short form: Al Yaman |
Currency | Saint Helenian pound (SHP) | Yemeni rial (YER) |
Death rate | 6.33 deaths/1,000 population (2001 est.) | 9.58 deaths/1,000 population (2001 est.) |
Debt - external | $NA | $4.4 billion (2000) |
Dependency status | overseas territory of the UK | - |
Diplomatic representation from the US | none (overseas territory of the UK) | chief of mission:
Ambassador Barbara K. BODINE embassy: Dhahar Himyar Zone, Sheraton Hotel District, Sanaa mailing address: P. O. Box 22347, Sanaa telephone: [967] (1) 303-161 FAX: [967] (1) 303-182 |
Diplomatic representation in the US | none (overseas territory of the UK) | chief of mission:
Ambassador Abd al-Wahhab Abdallah al-HAJRI chancery: Suite 705, 2600 Virginia Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20037 telephone: [1] (202) 965-4760 FAX: [1] (202) 337-2017 |
Disputes - international | none | a June 2000 treaty delimited the boundary with Saudi Arabia, but final demarcation requires adjustments based on tribal considerations |
Economic aid - recipient | $12.6 million (1995); note - $5.3 million from UK (1997) | $176.1 million (1995) |
Economy - overview | The economy depends largely on financial assistance from the UK, which amounted to about $5 million in 1997 or almost one-half of annual budgetary revenues. The local population earns income from fishing, the raising of livestock, and sales of handicrafts. Because there are few jobs, 25% of the work force has left to seek employment on Ascension Island, on the Falklands, and in the UK. | Yemen, one of the poorest countries in the Arab world, reported strong growth in the mid-1990s with the onset of oil production, but was harmed by low oil prices in 1998. Yemen has embarked on an IMF-supported structural adjustment program designed to modernize and streamline the economy, which has led to foreign debt relief and restructuring. Aided by higher oil prices in 1999-2000, Yemen worked to maintain tight control over spending and implement additional components of the IMF program. A high population growth rate of nearly 3.4% and internal political dissension complicate the government's task. |
Electricity - consumption | 5.6 million kWh (1999) | 2.232 billion kWh (1999) |
Electricity - exports | 0 kWh (1999) | 0 kWh (1999) |
Electricity - imports | 0 kWh (1999) | 0 kWh (1999) |
Electricity - production | 6 million kWh (1999) | 2.4 billion kWh (1999) |
Electricity - production by source | fossil fuel:
100% hydro: 0% nuclear: 0% other: 0% (1999) |
fossil fuel:
100% hydro: 0% nuclear: 0% other: 0% (1999) |
Elevation extremes | lowest point:
Atlantic Ocean 0 m highest point: Queen Mary's Peak on Tristan da Cunha 2,060 m |
lowest point:
Arabian Sea 0 m highest point: Jabal an Nabi Shu'ayb 3,760 m |
Environment - current issues | NA | very limited natural fresh water resources; inadequate supplies of potable water; overgrazing; soil erosion; desertification |
Environment - international agreements | - | party to:
Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection signed, but not ratified: Nuclear Test Ban |
Ethnic groups | African descent 50%, white 25%, Chinese 25% | predominantly Arab; but also Afro-Arab, South Asians, Europeans |
Exchange rates | Saint Helenian pounds per US dollar - 0.6764 (January 2001), 0.6596 (2000), 0.6180 (1999), 0.6037 (1998), 0.6047 (1997), 0.6403 (1996); note - the Saint Helenian pound is at par with the British pound | Yemeni rials per US dollar - 164.590 (October 2000), 160.683 (2000), 155.718 (1999), 135.882 (1998), 129.281 (1997), 94.157 (1996) |
Executive branch | chief of state:
Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1952) head of government: Governor and Commander in Chief David HOLLAMBY (since NA June 1999) cabinet: Executive Council consists of the governor, two ex officio officers, and six elected members of the Legislative Council elections: none; the monarch is hereditary; governor is appointed by the monarch |
chief of state:
President Field Marshall Ali Abdallah SALIH (since 22 May 1990, the former president of North Yemen, assumed office upon the merger of North and South Yemen); Vice President Maj. Gen. Abd al-Rab Mansur al-HADI (since 3 October 1994) head of government: Prime Minister Abd al-Qadir BA JAMAL (since 4 April 2001) cabinet: Council of Ministers appointed by the president on the advice of the prime minister elections: president elected by direct, popular vote for a five-year term (a new constitution amendment extends the term by two years to a seven-year term); election last held 23 September 1999 (next to be held NA 2006); vice president appointed by the president; prime minister and deputy prime ministers appointed by the president election results: Ali Abdallah SALIH elected president; percent of vote: Ali Abdallah SALIH 96.3%, Najeeb Qahtan AL-SHAABI 3.7% |
Exports | $704,000 (f.o.b., 1995) | $4.2 billion (f.o.b., 2000 est.) |
Exports - commodities | fish (frozen, canned, and salt-dried skipjack, tuna), coffee, handicrafts | crude oil, coffee, dried and salted fish |
Exports - partners | South Africa, UK | Thailand 34%, China 26%, South Korea 14%, Japan 3% (1999) |
Fiscal year | 1 April - 31 March | calendar year |
Flag description | blue with the flag of the UK in the upper hoist-side quadrant and the Saint Helenian shield centered on the outer half of the flag; the shield features a rocky coastline and three-masted sailing ship | three equal horizontal bands of red (top), white, and black; similar to the flag of Syria which has two green stars and of Iraq which has three green stars (plus an Arabic inscription) in a horizontal line centered in the white band; also similar to the flag of Egypt which has a heraldic eagle centered in the white band |
GDP | purchasing power parity - $18 million (1998 est.) | purchasing power parity - $14.4 billion (2000 est.) |
GDP - composition by sector | agriculture:
NA% industry: NA% services: NA% |
agriculture:
20% industry: 42% services: 38% (1998) |
GDP - per capita | purchasing power parity - $2,500 (1998 est.) | purchasing power parity - $820 (2000 est.) |
GDP - real growth rate | NA% | 6% (2000 est.) |
Geographic coordinates | 15 56 S, 5 42 W | 15 00 N, 48 00 E |
Geography - note | harbors at least 40 species of plants unknown anywhere else in the world; Ascension is a breeding ground for sea turtles and sooty terns | strategic location on Bab el Mandeb, the strait linking the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, one of world's most active shipping lanes |
Highways | total:
158 km (Saint Helena 118 km, Ascension 40 km, Tristan da Cunha 0 km) paved: 138 km (Saint Helena 98km, Ascension 40 km, Tristan da Cunha 0 km) unpaved: NA km 20 km (Saint Helena 20 km, Ascension 0 km, Tristan da Cunha 0 km) |
total:
69,263 km paved: 9,963 km unpaved: 59,300 km (1999) |
Household income or consumption by percentage share | lowest 10%:
NA% highest 10%: NA% |
lowest 10%:
2.3% highest 10%: 30.8% (1992) |
Imports | $14.434 million (c.i.f., 1995) | $2.7 billion (f.o.b., 2000 est.) |
Imports - commodities | food, beverages, tobacco, fuel oils, animal feed, building materials, motor vehicles and parts, machinery and parts | food and live animals, machinery and equipment |
Imports - partners | UK, South Africa | Saudi Arabia 10%, UAE 8%, US 7%, France 7%, Italy 6% (1999) |
Independence | none (overseas territory of the UK) | 22 May 1990, Republic of Yemen was established with the merger of the Yemen Arab Republic [Yemen (Sanaa) or North Yemen] and the Marxist-dominated People's Democratic Republic of Yemen [Yemen (Aden) or South Yemen]; previously North Yemen had become independent on NA November 1918 (from the Ottoman Empire) and South Yemen had become independent on 30 November 1967 (from the UK) |
Industrial production growth rate | NA% | NA% |
Industries | construction, crafts (furniture, lacework, fancy woodwork), fishing | crude oil production and petroleum refining; small-scale production of cotton textiles and leather goods; food processing; handicrafts; small aluminum products factory; cement |
Infant mortality rate | 22.38 deaths/1,000 live births (2001 est.) | 68.53 deaths/1,000 live births (2001 est.) |
Inflation rate (consumer prices) | 3.2% (1997 est.) | 10% (2000 est.) |
International organization participation | ICFTU | ACC, AFESD, AL, AMF, CAEU, CCC, ESCWA, FAO, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICRM, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Intelsat, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ITU, NAM, OAS (observer), OIC, OPCW, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO (observer) |
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) | 1 (2000) | 1 (2000) |
Irrigated land | NA sq km | 5,674 sq km (1999) |
Judicial branch | Supreme Court; Magistrate's Court; Small Debts Court; Juvenile Court | Supreme Court |
Labor force | 3,500 (1998 est.)
note: 1,200 of whom are working offshore |
NA |
Labor force - by occupation | agriculture and fishing 6%, industry (mainly construction) 48%, services 46% (1987 est.) | most people are employed in agriculture and herding; services, construction, industry, and commerce account for less than one-fourth of the labor force |
Land boundaries | 0 km | total:
1,746 km border countries: Oman 288 km, Saudi Arabia 1,458 km |
Land use | arable land:
6% permanent crops: 0% permanent pastures: 6% forests and woodland: 6% other: 82% (1993 est.) |
arable land:
3% permanent crops: 13% permanent pastures: 33.5% forests and woodland: 4% other: 46.5% (1999) |
Languages | English | Arabic |
Legal system | NA | based on Islamic law, Turkish law, English common law, and local tribal customary law; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction |
Legislative branch | unicameral Legislative Council (15 seats, including the speaker, 3 ex officio and 12 elected members; members are elected by popular vote to serve four-year terms)
elections: last held 9 July 1997 (next to be held NA August 2001) election results: percent of vote - NA%; seats - independents 15 |
a new constitutional amendment ratified on 20 February 2001 created a bicameral legislature consisting of a Shura Council (111 seats; members appointed by the president) and a House of Representatives (301 seats; members elected by popular vote to serve six-year terms)
elections: last held 27 April 1997 (next to be held 27 April 2003) election results: percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - GPC 189, Islah 52, Nasserite Unionist Party 3, National Arab Socialist Baath Party 2, independents 54, election pending 1; latest seats by party: GPC 223, Islah 64, Nasserite Unionist Party 3, National Arab Socialist Baath Party 2, YSP 2, independents 7 |
Life expectancy at birth | total population:
77.01 years male: 74.13 years female: 80.04 years (2001 est.) |
total population:
60.21 years male: 58.45 years female: 62.05 years (2001 est.) |
Literacy | definition:
age 20 and over can read and write total population: 97% male: 97% female: 98% (1987 est.) |
definition:
age 15 and over can read and write total population: 38% male: 53% female: 26% (1990 est.) |
Location | islands in the South Atlantic Ocean, about mid-way between South America and Africa | Middle East, bordering the Arabian Sea, Gulf of Aden, and Red Sea, between Oman and Saudi Arabia |
Map references | Africa | Middle East |
Maritime claims | exclusive fishing zone:
200 NM territorial sea: 12 NM |
contiguous zone:
24 NM continental shelf: 200 NM or to the edge of the continental margin exclusive economic zone: 200 NM territorial sea: 12 NM |
Merchant marine | none (2000 est.) | total:
4 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 15,075 GRT/23,562 DWT ships by type: cargo 1, petroleum tanker 3 (2000 est.) |
Military - note | defense is the responsibility of the UK | - |
Military branches | - | Army, Navy, Coast Guard, Air Force, Air Defense Forces, Presidential Guards, paramilitary (includes Police) |
Military expenditures - dollar figure | - | $414 million (FY99) |
Military expenditures - percent of GDP | - | 7.6% (FY99) |
Military manpower - availability | - | males age 15-49:
4,103,093 (2001 est.) |
Military manpower - fit for military service | - | males age 15-49:
2,303,257 (2001 est.) |
Military manpower - military age | - | 14 years of age |
Military manpower - reaching military age annually | - | males:
238,690 (2001 est.) |
National holiday | Birthday of Queen ELIZABETH II, second Saturday in June (1926) | Unification Day, 22 May (1990) |
Nationality | noun:
Saint Helenian(s) adjective: Saint Helenian |
noun:
Yemeni(s) adjective: Yemeni |
Natural hazards | active volcanism on Tristan da Cunha | sandstorms and dust storms in summer |
Natural resources | fish | petroleum, fish, rock salt, marble, small deposits of coal, gold, lead, nickel, and copper, fertile soil in west |
Net migration rate | 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2001 est.) | 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2001 est.) |
Pipelines | - | crude oil 644 km; petroleum products 32 km |
Political parties and leaders | none | there are over 12 political parties active in Yemen, some of the more prominent are: General People's Congress or GPC [President Ali Abdallah SALIH]; Islamic Reform Grouping or Islah [Shaykh Abdallah bin Husayn al-AHMAR]; National Arab Socialist Baath Party [Dr. Qassim SALAAM]; Nasserite Unionist Party [Abdel Malik al-MAKHLAFI]; Yemeni Socialist Party or YSP [Ali Salih MUQBIL]
note: President SALIH's General People's Congress or GPC won a landslide victory in the April 1997 legislative election and no longer governs in coalition with Shaykh Abdallah bin Husayn al-AHMAR's Islamic Reform Grouping or Islah - the two parties had been in coalition since the end of the civil war in 1994; the YSP, a loyal opposition party, boycotted the April 1997 legislative election, but announced that it would participate in Yemen's first local elections to be held in February 2001; these local elections aim to decentralize political power and are a key element of the government's political reform program |
Political pressure groups and leaders | none | NA |
Population | 7,266 (July 2001 est.) | 18,078,035 (July 2001 est.) |
Population below poverty line | NA% | 19% (1992 est.) |
Population growth rate | 0.72% (2001 est.) | 3.38% (2001 est.) |
Ports and harbors | Georgetown (on Ascension), Jamestown | Aden, Al Hudaydah, Al Mukalla, As Salif, Mocha, Nishtun |
Radio broadcast stations | AM 1, FM 0, shortwave 0 (1998) | AM 6, FM 1, shortwave 2 (1998) |
Radios | 3,000 (1997) | 1.05 million (1997) |
Railways | 0 km | 0 km |
Religions | Anglican (majority), Baptist, Seventh-Day Adventist, Roman Catholic | Muslim including Shaf'i (Sunni) and Zaydi (Shi'a), small numbers of Jewish, Christian, and Hindu |
Sex ratio | at birth:
1.04 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.02 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.08 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.75 male(s)/female total population: 1.04 male(s)/female (2001 est.) |
at birth:
1.05 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.03 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.04 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 1.02 male(s)/female total population: 1.04 male(s)/female (2001 est.) |
Suffrage | NA years of age | 18 years of age; universal |
Telephone system | general assessment:
can communicate with any place in the world domestic: automatic network international: HF radiotelephone from Saint Helena to Ascension which is a major coaxial submarine cable relay point between South Africa, Portugal, and UK ; satellite earth stations - 2 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean) |
general assessment:
since unification in 1990, efforts have been made to create a national telecommunications network domestic: the national network consists of microwave radio relay, cable, tropospheric scatter, and GSM cellular mobile telephone systems international: satellite earth stations - 3 Intelsat (2 Indian Ocean and 1 Atlantic Ocean), 1 Intersputnik (Atlantic Ocean region), and 2 Arabsat; microwave radio relay to Saudi Arabia and Djibouti |
Telephones - main lines in use | 2,000 (1997) | 291,359 (1999) |
Telephones - mobile cellular | 0 (1997) | 32,042 (2000) |
Television broadcast stations | 0 (1997) | 7 (plus several low-power repeaters) (1997) |
Terrain | Saint Helena - rugged, volcanic; small scattered plateaus and plains
note: the other islands of the group have a volcanic origin |
narrow coastal plain backed by flat-topped hills and rugged mountains; dissected upland desert plains in center slope into the desert interior of the Arabian Peninsula |
Total fertility rate | 1.53 children born/woman (2001 est.) | 6.97 children born/woman (2001 est.) |
Unemployment rate | 14% (1998 est.) | 30% (1995 est.) |
Waterways | none | none |